Now just try and tell me this isn’t the coolest concept of the decade: In modern day, various headquarters of the Templar Knights come under attack by an unknown enemy, resulting in mass deaths among their men, yet sporting no visible bullet or stab wounds. To investigate, the Knights call upon Cade, aka “The Heretic,” a former Special Ops officer with a Snake Plissken-esque eyepatch and the gift of seeing the memories of anyone he touches. For his “Echo Team” unit, Cade recruits a fellow Knight named Duncan, whose touch has the power to heal. Though not exactly pals, the two join forces against the Necromancer, a hooded practicioner of black magick, who summons demonic spectres from a bank of fog and reanimates corpses from Templar graveyards, Romero-style.

Killer, right? Damn straight. The book in question is HERETIC: THE TEMPLAR CHRONICLES, the first of a proposed series by Joseph Nassise. Cade’s unorthodox methods and bad attitude serve him well as he leads the Templar Knights – that secret military arm of the Vatican – in their quest to quash the supernatural and protect the Spear of Destiny, the holy relic in the Knights’ possession that pierced the side of Christ during His crucifixion. Part of this mission involves a journey or two into another dimension known as the Beyond; you get there by jumping through household mirrors.

As if you couldn’t tell, Nassise’s novel is full of imagination, combining elements from THE X-FILES, CONSTANTINE and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, with a side order of sword ‘n’ sorcery. Though the cliché has it that too many cooks spoil the kitchen, each new layer of genre goodness slapped on to the narrative only serves to make the story more delicious. From fast-paced action and extreme horror to discussions of military-grade weaponry and theories of the theological, HERETIC does them all well without losing focus.

With all the recent success of fiction with religious themes (I’m talking Dan Brown’s ANGELS & DEMONS, not the wretched LEFT BEHIND books), I’m surprised this isn’t getting a bigger push, because it’s positively ripe with breakout franchise potential. It’s hard to tell if I am more excited by HERETIC itself or the fact that it’s tagged as “Book One,” because there obviously are many more adventures to be had by Cade and Co. Whether you’re a fan of the creature-laden tales of H.P. Lovecraft or the military-driven adventures of Tom Clancy, HERETIC holds something to please.